This past month has been a rollercoaster for the Russian fans with Nikolai Kuksenkov being retired and unretired, David Belyavskiy missing Euros, then going to Euros, then not going to Euros again and now Aliya Mustafina withdrawing from the trials for Euros.
Originally, Mustafina had not been included on the Russian team for the upcoming European Championships after placing third in the all-around at the Russian Championships. She was then added to the team after winning the all-around at the Birmingham World Cup. However, today, Valentina Rodionenko has announced that Mustafina decided not to participate in Euros as she is tired after competing almost non-stop since the beginning of the month:
“Aliya herself decided not to participate at the European Championships. Mustafina is not at the required stage of preparation. She told us that it was hard for her to compete at two competitions in a row and the European Championships would be the third competition for her almost without a break. So, we let her not to participate. But this was, I repeat, her own decision.”
Angelina Simakova who was originally on the Euros team will replace Mustafina.
The MAG team was also finalized this week. We will have a showdown between Nikita Nagornyy and Artur Dalaloyan in the all-around, while Denis Abliazin, Dmitrii Lankin, Ivan Stretovich, and Vladislav Poliashov. For Stretovich, this will be the first major international competition since the Rio Olympics because he has been struggling with injuries and recovery for the past two years.
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